Back in Black
by Nianko
Summary: Life isn't just about work and personal issues, and the CSI team knows that really, I meam, really really well.But you can't always take a step back and see the bigger picture can you? Starting off on the first season.EricOC and I'm summaryalergic. R
1. Chapter 1

New story. So sorry for everyone who is waiting on updates on my other stories, but my muse is a very picky one, so it comes and goes as it pleases. This story starts at the beginning of the first series, and since I can't possibly write all the cases that have happened, I'll probably make up new ones. I'll have two OC characters in addition to Speed, Eric, Horatio, Megan and Calleigh. Anyway, sorry r any mistakes that might occur, but this is a slightly AU thing.

**Chapter One**

Bedroom. Bathroom. Kitchen. Bathroom. Bedroom and back to bathroom in a rush. That was her path every morning for two years now, and she doubted she'd change it any time soon. Not that she wished to do so, so it didn't matter.

She checked her reflection one more time on the mirror just beside the front door of her apartment and gave herself a satisfied grin. Her hair was pulled back in a clean and simple pony tail, falling into curly bangs on her shoulders. She pushed her glasses to the top of her nose, since they had the annoying habit of falling to the tip of her nose giving her a clumsy nerd look. Not that she knew, but they did. Although, it made her look cute, that clumsy nerdy cute. She wore little make-up, just a touch of lipstick and some eyeliner, but you couldn't really tell with the glasses. It was just for her to feel a little prettier, you know. Overall, she looked serious and nice, so she grabbed her keys and walked quickly to her car. She was probably late again.

She knew that someone would have probably taken coffee to the lab, so she didn't have to stop by Starbucks, and she went on her merry way to the Miami Lab, with Back in Black playing on her radio, like some alternative movie soundtrack.

She felt the sun on her back, and felt slightly annoyed at the fact that it was going to be another hot sunny day. It was a little stupid that someone who liked cold and winter would leave in Miami, but yeah. She felt strange and it was just one of those days.

---

Anna Marcs entered the lab with her usual expression of thoughtfulness on her face, and she bit her lip walking towards the elevator. She felt a little awkward waiting with people she only knew by face, but she shrugged off the feeling. She was long over being a shy teen, and a shy young adult. She was now a… not-as-shy and getting a-little-older adult?

Something like that. Yes, one could say that Anna wasn't the most social person on the world, but she wasn't any sort of socialphobiac. She just didn't handle being around people she didn't know well in a perfect manner. Some have it in them, some didn't. She kept her eyes on the marble floor, as she waited for the doors to open, and looked over at her watch. She was two minutes away from being late to Megan's request for her to see her.

The doors opened and she looked up and smiled slightly. Alleluia. She got on the elevator, saying sorry under her breathe every time she had to step on someone's shoes because it was just a little crowded and no one seemed willing to move a little more to the right for her to get some breathing space.

Finally, she managed to get a corner in the back of the elevator (she hated being in the front), and rested her back against the cold metal and bit her lip in a thoughtful manner and waited for the doors to close. But just as they were about to close, she heard a familiar male voice that made her eyes roll.

"**Hold it!****,"** Eric Delko's voice was probably the last thing she wanted to heard that morning, unlike the whispering women beside her that sent him lusty looks, making Anna roll her eyes again. Now, don't her wrong, she would admit he was a very good looking guy, tall, dark and built, but after working with him for two years of constant fighting and bickering they sort of were the best people to leave alone in a room.

He stepped into the tiny space just in time and shot a thankful smile at the woman that had done it, a skinny and small blonde that looked like she had been left out on the sun for too long, making the woman smile back and then eye her friends and giggled like an idiot. Anna gave out a loud snort, and crossed her arms as her gaze fell on the back of his head.

She though about the current case she was working on with Speed, and she though about the victim with a small feeling of disgust. After a while she got used the blood, the dead bodied and the violence, but still you had to feel a little weird about the things you saw on a daily basis as she did with her job, or else, you wouldn't be alive would you?

This victim had been found decapitated, naked and bruised like he had taken the beating of his life. They were still trying to find out who it was, since no match for the DNA or the finger tips came up, and the head was pretty much all screwed. She knew Speed was fallowing a lead on the place he was found and today they were supposed to go and talk to the owner of the building.

The elevator finally reached her floor, and she pushed some people out of the way to get to the door. Being polite got old after you spent two minutes on an elevator filled with stupid women and annoying people taking away all your air and personal space. She got out and heard the doors close behind her with a metal noise. She was very much aware that beside her was the man she had no intention to talk to that day.

The funny thing about Delko was that he had a special talent to guess the days when she really wasn't in the mood for his constant jokes and comments. Really, the man was a mind reader, seriously. They started walking at the same time, without exchanging a word and she noticed with dry amusement that the situation was a little silly. They were walking side by side, and apparently towards the same place yet they didn't exchange a word, not even a glance of polite acknowledgement. In her mind, she though he was probably waiting for the perfect time to attack as another part of her mind told her he probably did not care she was there, just as she did not care he was there. Or something.

Finally, they both stopped in front of Megan's office and she shot him a strange look. He looked down on her with a similar expression and nodded. Well, he was politer then she was, she'd give him that. But not wanting to be the lesser person, she nodded back with a big, pearly white smile that could almost reach her ears if she tried a little harder.

Eric looked at Marcs and rolled his eyes at her, giving her an annoyed look. He hated when she did this, when she flashed him that fake smile that screamed she couldn't stand him, or when she would silently give him frustrated looks just because the were in the same room. She wasn't an unpleasant person, she wasn't stupid, dumb or slow. Sure, she gave was a good person to bicker with since she got all worked up about things, and she could come back with some decent answers every other time, but on a daily basis she was a plain bitch around him, while around Speed or Calleigh she was okay.

It's not like he hated her or anything, and he knew he could be as annoying to her as she was to him, but seriously, she could be a stuck up idiot when she wanted to. The reason why they didn't get along was still fresh in his mind, because everyday she'd say some sort of joke about it and then play stupid, acting like it was perfectly reasonable. Another thing that annoyed him.

Fact is, Anna could really be a stuck up. She didn't mean to be so, and she really wasn't an egocentric person, per se. But she was that sort of person who just did not let go of a subject until she proven she was right, and tended to sort of rub it in the face of the people who though otherwise. She was proud and she would rarely admit she had made a mistake, something that made Eric crazy.

After a few awkward moments in front of Megan's office, Anna finally knocked on the door and crossed her arms in a defensive manner. She hated feeling like this. Stupid. She always felt stupid around him. Stupid idiot.

Megan came to the door and smiled at the two. From her point of view, the two were perfect to work together, since they filled each other's faults. She was persistent and clever but se could be a little too quiet for her own good, and too proud to admit she made a mistake and go back to the evidences. As for him, he was hard working and focused but he could get a little sidetracked when he got emotionally involved.

And that was why she was putting them together in the decapitated victim case. She needed Speed to work in her case, and Calleigh was working with Horatio, so Eric and Anna had to work together on this one.

"**So, I just wanted to tell you guys that you'll be working on the decapitated victim together since I need Speed on my case,"** Megan spoke slowly, waiting for reaction.

Anna raised her eyebrows slowly at Megan, and Eric looked form Megan to Anna with a neutral look, although not a very pleased one. It wasn't like they could argue with Megan, and it would be childish to take it up to Horatio. And after all, they could take working together for a couple of days. Right?

"Okay," Anna said before Eric could answer anything and relaxed her face, that fell into a displeased expression and she looked at Eric, meeting his gaze. They didn't hate each other. They just didn't like each other on a personal basis, but that shouldn't get in the way of their work, so they had to accept it…

"**So, go…,"**Megan said to them, as she looked weirdly at the two standing, silent and stone looking people in front of her, as they stayed there, eyeing her with neutral looks on their eyes, like they were accepting an unavoidable death.

Eric moved first and walked out the door and Anna followed behind and closed the door behind her.

"**So, let's go, partner,"** She said her voice obviously filled with excitement as she looked up at him and rolled her eyes,**" We need to find the owner of the building where the victim was found," **She said as she started walking with him beside her. He looked at her and gave her a nod that told her to lead the way. So, she did.

**End of Chapter**

I'm very sorry but something is wrong with my fingers today, so it was a crappy first chapter. But the next will be better [ I hope anyway XD R&R


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, hey! Sooo, here's the second chapter and thank you for everyone that read it and for the person that reviewed.

**Chapter Two**

There are only so many arguements that you can have with someone, you know. And there are many types of arguments, that go from daily and mundane things to religion linked topics and other philosophic stuff. But none of those topics were the ones that got Eric Delko and Anna Marcs arguing before they arrived to the building, as they drived towards thebuilding, at the crime scene and during the drive back.

They argued about who was driving, the better way to get there, the better place to park, who they were going to speak too first. They bickered about evidence, they commented on each other's personal taste when they decided to put on some music to ease the inviorment. In all, the two argued alot.

Anna slammed the car door with a little too much strenght, making a nasty metal sound ring in her ear, making her even more irritated. Gain, they had spent the hole time arguing over stupid things and she felt like kicking Delko in between the legs, shoot him, get a boat and go to high sea and abandon his courpe, to come back to a happy, Eric Delko free life. She pushed her glasses to the top of her nose, as she sent him a sideway glance, letting out a frustrated grunt.

Eric looked at her with amusement but said nothing. From the little he knew about Anna, he knew she was probably coming up with clever plans of killing and torturing him, and besides he had plenty of time to piss her off on the way back to the lab, and since he was the one driving, she couldn't harm him without propably harming herself. Thank god for human survival instintcs.

They walked in silence as they entered the tall, silver building straight towards the desk where a blonde woman sat, chewing her gum loudly and talking on the phone. She played aorund with one of her curls, taht looked as fake as her blonde hair with brown roots, and only looked up to them to gaze at Eric with happy looking eyes.

"**Carly, I got to go, call back in a minute,'kay?"**The woman had a thick accent that Anna couldn't quite ctach from where, since she still had some trouble in identifying accents from across North America, and she rinckled her nose as she read _Candice-Marie _on her name tag.

_**Tacky, tacky, tacky, tacky**_Anna looked form the label to the face that came with it, with a smirk and an eyebrow raised towards the woman that stared at Eric with lusty eyes, as he shot her a big smile. This smile made Anna roll her eyes at the two of them as she waited for him to stop looking like he was about to pull of the shiny armour from his backpocket.

"**Hi, welcome to Barlons & Sons, how can I be of service?,"**He voice was filled with malice, as she looked Eric from hi eyes to his chest, since that was how far she could see as she got her chair to come out of the desk and crossed her legs. Before Eric could speak, and he was about to do so, Anna pulled off her badge and said coldly.

"**Hi Candice-Marie, we're with the Crime Lab, we need to talk to Mr.Kevin Barlons, could ****you please tell us where to go?,"**She kept a fake smile on her lips, and stuffed her badge into her pocket, corssing her arms in a defensive way. She knew Eric was staring at her with a disaproving look, but like she cared about him not approving her manners.

Eric looked at the girl with an apolegetic smile and turned his eyes to his _"partner"_. She looked like she always did, arrogant and cold, and usually this amde him roll his eyes and grin at the same time. But at that time of the day, after spending half an hour arguing about radio stations, he felt like telling her to take the stick out of her ass and be less of a stuck up, and he almost did so, when Candice-Marie spoke up, looking a little amused with the tension between them.

"**Mr.Barlons' office is ****on the 18th floor, I'm sure you'll see it,"** She smiled at Eric and then gave a quicky dirty but amused look at the woman. Now, Candice-Marie could be alot of things and book-smart was not one of them, but her woman-insticts were as sharp as a knife and she could tell that all that tension going on asn't coming all from a bad relationship. No sir.

"**Thanks,"**Eric flashed a flirty smile at the girl and started walking towardsthe elevator, as Anna was already pressing the button. He always mused on how uncannly fast she managed to get away from people. They waited for the elevator in silence, and as the doors opened, four laughing people came out, leaving the two alone together. It was your typical elevator, shiny metal taht allowed you to check out your hair and horrible boring music.

For two floors they were quiet, until Eric broke the silence that Anna was hoping and praying he'd keep without ruining the rest of her morning with yet another fight.

"**You didn't have to be such a bitch,"**His tone was calm and cool, like they were discussing the weather or flirting. You know that, calm and relazed tone, that leaves a smile on your face. But in this case the politeness sounded so fake that it made Anna laugh.

"**Sorry, it just comes out naturally around you,"**She answered back in her best polite tone, the sort you use on some annoying salesman that calls you at home right when you were about to get into the tub filled with warm, delicious water to dirnk a glass of red wine.

"**Yeah I guess you can't fight what you are, right?,"**Eric looked at her with his smile growing as he saw her cheeks get red from the annoyence. She always turned red when something bothered her. She'd get really red in the center of her cheeks and pink around it. And she'd runkled her nose as she tried to remain calm. He knew all this, in some amaizing unknown way.

"**Well, I'm gald we're working together"**She said out of the blue, as she looked at him with a big, pearly white smile, that actually looked true. It made her hole face shine,a nd it was probably one of the best things she had. Eric caught himself thinking she should do it more often, maybe she wouldn't be that much of an arrogant.

"**Really? Why's that?,"**He asked curiously, and slightly shocked since this either meant she was going to say something nice or to be rude like always, but the way she smiled almost amde him believe she was being truly nice, just because. For no reason.

"**Because when we work together it helps me remind myself of why I don't like you,"**Her smile turned into a fake one and then into an angry frown. He wasn't able to answer because the elevator stopped and the doors opened, letting in two buisness man in fancy suits. They spent the rest of the time in silence, Eric glancing once in a while over at Anna who had her eyes fixed on the ground, and cursing herself for not letting her hair loose that day, so that she could hide the red marks around her eyes that she knew were probably coming.

She hated when this happened. She liked to keep up with that imagi of being cool and cold around him, imune to his insults. That was who she was. Anna Marcs, the calm and collected know-it-all, not really a bitch or the sort of person that complained too much, but someone who didn't really care about other people in general. And no matter how cliché it sounded to her, she didn't mind. She liked keeping up that appearence.

Finally they reached the 18th floor, and she walked towards the recepcionist with a neutral stone mask on her face, with Eric beside her, also looking neutral. In his mind he was thinking taht something must be very wrong with Macrs that day because usually she'd be yelling and telling him how much of an asshole she thought he was. But instead, she seemed to be having some sort of internal crises that prevented her from yelling or making a fuss about things. Not that he minded or was boethered by this, he welcomed the silence, but still it was odd.

The other owman, this time an old looking lady, smiled sweetly at them and told them to go right and that they would find Mr.Borlons office at the end of the corridor. They kept walking in silence and in quick steps, as they were both dying to get back to the lab, trying to forget that they had to spend more time together they the one they already had, since they were on the case together.

The conversation with Kevin wasn't brilliant or helpful by far, but still they were expeting him to say anythign if he had something to do with it, so they came back down not very bothered with it. During the hole time Anna had stayed quiet, something strange because she usally would inturrupt Eric and try and shut him off so that she would do the talking. But she didn't say a word after the elevator and they were already in the car when Eric decided he liked the annoying Anna better then the stone cold Anna.

"**It's not that I like it when you're bitching around,"**He looked at her. They were waiting for the red light to turn green and the music didn't seem to fill in for the non-existent conversation/argument**,"But this new attitude is just as annoying,"**He finished, looking back to the road, cursing himself. That day was just getting stranger and stranger.

"Well, if it annoys then I'll stop," She said with a quiet voice, but the sarcasm was obvious. She changed the radio station, but he changed it back. She looked at him with an annoyed expression but he kept gazing foward. She moved to change it again, but he slapped her hand with little force and said,**"No, leave it there,"**

"**But it sucks, and I want to hear something else,"**She said, movign again to change it. He slapped her hand again and she let out a frustrtaed sigh.

"Eric, let me change the station!,"She said, her tone level raising.

"**You didn't ask politely,"**He said with a grin, finsing her annoyence amusing, as he looked pver at her face, not blushing with anger. He knew that they wouldn't go home tonight wihtout haing a seirous fight but he couldn't help himself. Watching her like that just made him feel... victorious.

"**Let me change the station, asshole,"**She said in a friendly tone, and before he could eract she changed the station to classic music, and smiled.

Eric said nothing, but smiled slightly. Yep, they had a strange thing going one, they did.

**End of Chapter**

**I'm not very sure about this chapter, and I'm afraid people won't understand what they have going on but I'll try and make it more clear in future chapters, okay? R&R**


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